Man dies as car plunges into Durban harbour

An elite team of police divers and rescue technicians spent hours recovering the body of a Durban man who apparently drove his car into the Durban harbour on Saturday night.

An elite team of police divers and rescue technicians spent hours recovering the body of a Durban man who apparently drove his car into the Durban harbour on Saturday night.

The marathon operation saw members of the Durban search and rescue unit, the eThekwini metro fire department and IPSS Medical Rescue pull the body of a 77-year-old man from the submerged wreckage of his car.

It is understood that the man had driven his car into the bay near Pier 205.

According to IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Paul Herbst, a dive operation was conducted and the vehicle was located at a depth of 13m.

"The deceased victim had to be extricated from the vehicle under water due to the damage sustained on impact with the water. Once the body was removed from the vehicle and hauled up to the quay side, lift bags were attached to raise the vehicle to the surface where a fire department heavy rescue crane hauled it up to the quayside," he said.